SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Navy divers and explosive ordnance disposal technicians showed off the tools of their trade at Old Fort Jackson during the Raise the Wreck Festival, July 25.
The festival was coordinated by the Army Corps of Engineers in direct support of the salvage operation of the Civil War-era ironclad CSS Georgia, which is currently being removed piece by piece from the Savannah River.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 6 and Navy Divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 are working in conjunction with archaeologists, conservationists, Naval History and Heritage Command and the US Army Corps of Engineers in a project directed by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) to salvage and preserve CSS Georgia.
The festival offered a first-person view for visitors to see how and why Georgia is being salvaged. At the festival a variety of booths were set up from marine archaeology to Civil War re-enactors.
“We are out here letting the kids try on the helmets and just explaining what we do as Navy divers,” said Navy Diver 2nd Class Nicholas Seidler, a native of Milford, Pennsylvania. “Today is going great, we have had a lot of people out and a lot people interested.”
Visitors were lined up at the booths to have a chance to interact with the tools the Sailors brought out. The Sailors had with them a variety of dive helmets and land and underwater robotics.
“Trying on the helmet was really cool,” said Kim Myerly, a local resident. “That’s a really heavy helmet. I would want to get water pretty quick after putting that thing on.”
The visitors are not the only ones getting a rewarding experience at the festival.
“Its a good time coming out here to do this,” said Seilder. “This isn’t the first time we have done something like this, and I enjoy doing it.”
Georgia must be removed completely to make way for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, or SHEP, a beneficial and commerce-boosting project to allow larger ships to use the Port of Savannah.
For more news from SUPSALV, visit www.supsalv.org/.
For more news from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2, visit www.navy.mil/local/eod2/.
For more news from Navy Public Affairs Support Element, East, visit www.navy.mil/local/pacennorfolk/.